Learning From the Past--Looking to the Future.

• Author: OSMAN, EDITH G.

This year I turned 50. So did The Florida Bar. Of course, unlike our organization, I dreaded that birthday for the two preceding years. As the date drew closer, I wondered whether I should even celebrate. I could not imagine a party or a present that would make turning 50 a happy occasion. One day I began sharing these concerns with my good friend Raquel Matas. She immediately reprimanded me but gave me the greatest gift of all: She told me--in no uncertain terms--that I was lucky to be turning 50; that the key to a wonderful future was taking stock of the past. Raquel was right. The truth is that experience--learning the hard way--has made me a wiser, and frankly, a better person. As a lawyer, for example, I have found (as I suspect we all have) that success comes from hard work rather than quick fixes; a direct approach is almost always the best approach; and litigation tactics can needlessly squander resources, undermine reputations, and take an advocate's eye off the ball. The lessons go on and on.

While I hope I have grown from 50 years of a myriad of mistakes, I have wondered if the same can be said for the Bar. How could it? The Bar is actually an organization of 66,000+ attorneys with an equal number of approaches to lawyering. New lawyers being sworn in do not instantly acquire the wisdom of those who came before them; there are no universal folk tales passed down with the oath.

On the other hand, we do have an institutional history and we present it to you here. In this issue you will see thin ties, short hair, and too few women and minorities. But you will also see advocates that resolved cases on a handshake and whose word meant more than any written agreement; lawyers who know the difference between technological advances and professional growth, who understand that while we can fax, Fed-Ex, and e-mail faster than ever before, there are not enough bytes in the world to replace human contact.

Although we may never return to these admittedly romanticized years, we must seize the opportunity to learn from them and endeavor to instill "old" values in new lawyers. While the professionalism movement is an excellent start, being a role model--like the people in this issue--is even better.

This year, in order to appreciate our history, your Bar staff and volunteers from many local bars and the Board of Governors have worked hard to document and preserve our history and to make this a special year in the life of The Florida Bar. Through...